The Journey of Jake - Lexi's Bus (Was: And one more added)

[fusername]

So I swung by on the way home to check out the progress of Jake. The passenger side door locks fine, the slider still needs that nylon block for the slider, but Iwas able to adjust the striker so it shuts a bit easier, but a little grease on the tracks and adjustment on the handle rods and it will shut like a dream. or nightmare, time will tell.

anyways lexis dad came down with the key and we cranked it over and he fired right up. shut down, restarted no problem, but hen the battery was completly flat. We jumped it after I fought with the alternator adjusting bolt, finally got it loose, cleaned the threads and put it back together but still 0 charge, somewhere a wire is not connected. Fired it up again, still running lumpy. Got the throttle cable adjusted, but it needs to be replaced because it is too kinked to work. Revs quick and smooth. After some poking around, I have a question sneaks. I know this is a replacement engine, so maybe the firing order is different? after swapping two wires around the idle jumped to about 2200rpm and butter smooth.

next time I am by I will splice some more wires together so that the reverse lights work, along with the choke. Also the alt warning light si not hooked up. i know on a bug this stops the alt from working, but I don't think this is true on a bay, but I have been wrong once before. Also the oil leak took off like crazy after i swapped the wires, i think the extra crankcase pressure or something did it. so I was gonna go for a test drive but the leak was too much. I hooked the crankcase vent to the air cleaner that you had plugged sneaks, any reason it wasn't hooked up to begin with?

sneaks I apparently have about 4 pms from you, gonna go read those then update this threadd w/ parts needed.

[Sneaks]

Thanks for checking that stuff out, I wondered if the throttle cable might be the response issue. As for the alternator, if it's bad, let me know and I'll hunt one down.

After we talked about the timing issue, the firing order question does make sense. Don't even get me started on the vent hose, when I got it that hose was attached to the manifold port...

[sparklingredpepper]

I just wrote a big reply that evidently didn't go through...

Thanks for checking it all out! So all the doors lock? Guess I just need to work on using them properly. What sort of grease do I use on the sliding door track?

More power! Awesome. That sounds like a nice simple fix.

So what I understand,
Throttle cable adjusted but needs replacing (where do I get one?)
Alternator warning light needs fixing (or wiring needs work - where do I start with that?)
Doesn't charge
I'm bad with keys

Hope that's not too many questions. Thanks again for doing all that!

[Sneaks]

Thanks for checking it all out!

toldja you'd be taken care of:)

So all the doors lock? Guess I just need to work on using them properly. What sort of grease do I use on the sliding door track?

I recommend silicon lube but someone else might have a better idea.

More power! Awesome. That sounds like a nice simple fix.

more power is never a bad thing

So what I understand,
Throttle cable adjusted but needs replacing (where do I get one?) - Any one of those links I sent you earlier today will have one

Alternator warning light needs fixing (or wiring needs work - where do I start with that?) Let us figure out what the issue is and we can go from there. If it's the alternator, I think I have one up here.
Doesn't charge See above
I'm bad with keys you have some challenges but they make you special and we love you anyway.

Hope that's not too many questions. Thanks again for doing all that!

without questions, this place would just be fuser, AJ, David and I telling each other how awesome we are. As much fun as that is, it gets old...

[ajdenette]

Fuser if you need i can get pictures of the alt wiring you should also have one in that engine i pulled for you as for the nylon block the one on the body or door i might be able to get one of those and illlook at the throttle cable i have as a temporary solution.

As for the new parts you need to get to know some of our favorite vendors, bus boys, go west (pricy), CIP 1, West coast metric, Mid america Motorworks, and othersi might not know.

[sparklingredpepper]

Thanks, AJ! I just looked up throttle cables but they all seem to be different lengths and different makes...3655mm?

without questions, this place would just be fuser, AJ, David and I telling each other how awesome we are. As much fun as that is, it gets old...

As a change of pace, I tell you how awesome you all are.

I helped a friend change his headlight today, and look at that, the light now works and I now know how to do it. I did something! (Baby steps.)

[fusername]

I just remembered I have a spare throttle cable in my bus, I'll throw that in for now, just go ahead and order two so we both have spares. the alt seems like a loose wire, not a bad alt, and if it is a bad alt I have about 8 of em so we are all set there. the wiring harness in that corner looks like it got hit with a sickle or something, so theree could be some digging needed. as for the aparts list, here goes

needs:
nylon guide block for sliding door
rear hatch strike plate, hers is missing the rubber block and the latch has come loose, this is an AJ part
horn
possibly a battery? I need to look up the reccomended CCA, that one was 420 I think and looks a tad small, but I don't have a bently infront of me to check what it is supposed to be. group 42 iirc, but CCA is what matters
throttle cable
dipstick boot
?
?

and for the spare parts list

MUST HAVE
accel cable
clutch cable
clutch cable pivot thingy(usually comes with clutch cable kit)
brake fluid
fix a flat
fuses
quart of oil

nice to have
spare tire
spare bulbs
alt belt

[Sneaks]

Thanks fuser.

Ok, on the battery, if you think it needs replacing, let me handle that part since I bought it less than 2 months ago. I'll return it and get something different. FYI, it's Mustang 5.0 spec so I would have thought it would be up to a 2.0 VW but you have much more experience with it than I do so I'll defer to you on this one. As a thought, what about getting a second battery and an isolator so she has two batteries?

Horn is coming so scratch that off the list. I hope to see it today or tomorrow. I have Lexi's address and can drop it in the mail since she wants to give the install herself. She has the Clymer manual and while its not a Bentley, it is better than a Haynes and should get her pretty far on the basics (plus, she has the Muir!). I'll toss in some spade terminals and shrink tubing so she has the right ones to clean up the wire ends.

Accel cable, what one is needed (no just for her but I figure I'll steal the specs and order one for Chrissy as well, I assume the 70 will need something different running a T1)?

Not really spare parts but other good stuff to toss in that rear cabinet:

Roll of duct tape
Roll of 3M (not the cheap Walmart crap) electrical tape
Snap-off blade cutter
A couple of ratchet straps
2' length of pipe for a cheater\hammer\self-defense bludgeon
couple pair of gloves, both fabric and latex\nitrol
Can of brake clean
Can of WD40 or wire drier
JB Weld

[fusername]

that mustang is high comp too? maybe I misread the cca, or am just making numbers up. I think the starter on the bays aint that effeicent, its got pretty low CCA requirements for something its age, but not for its size. Whatever, i'll tell you what it says and we go from there. hopefully its just flat from not charging. was it charging when you had it?

a second battery on a camper is awesome to have, esp with charghing issues... ask me how i know! haveing a second battery to swap over has saved my arese many a time, And helped dead friends cars till I could lend them my charger. NLW dad can attest to that. Actually I think franz has a battery out of my bus that I lent out and never got back. What I am trying to say is these things get around. A good isolator is a 30-50 amp solenoid wired up to only let the second battery charge when the alternator fires, but the better ilsolator is a pair of diodes wired nose to nose. (uhhh cathode?) future projects.

As for the accel cable, since she has a webber and not stock carbs any length for her year should be fine. the one that is in there is too long already by 8 inch or so. The only thign is at some point they changed the pedal side hook up iiirc, so make sure the cable matches the body year.

its a good thing i took the buggy to the car show, finally found my good crimper under the rear seat in the "trunk". iot will cimp insulated terminals like nobodies buisness. need to get the attachemtn for uninsulated, but first I need to get a job.

clymer manual i have never read, I always hear one of the two (clymer vs haynes) is junk I just can never rememver which. I like my hanes T1, but I have never seen anythign for a bus but the bently. . Although a guy had a bus factory manual for sale for a pretty peny, but if I am going to be diving into a bus trans, I may just pick it up. the heading for the trans section in the bently says "this info is dandy and all, but repairs are beyond you so don't even bother" which tells me if there are any errors in there they never noticed.

[sparklingredpepper]

So about half the content of the last few posts went over my head, but it seems like a spare battery is a smart idea someday, and I need to order some spare parts? What's happening with the accelerator cable? (I just don't want to order one that's too short.)

the heading for the trans section in the bently says "this info is dandy and all, but repairs are beyond you so don't even bother" which tells me if there are any errors in there they never noticed.

hah...

Is the alternator belt the one that occasionally gets replaced with pantyhose when it breaks?

[sparklingredpepper]

Also, thanks for putting together the various lists of things I should have in the bus, either now or for spare. I've been going through everything I own and have managed to come up with more of the tools than I would have guessed I had. Yay!

[Stray Catalyst]

The pantyhose-as-a-belt trick is used for all the upright engines, as the motor will die in under a minute, usually, if that alternator isn't turning. It can turn without charging and it'll be ok. If you have an upright engine, then the alternator spins a fan, which is the only thing keeping the engine temps low enough to keep it from welding itself into a boat anchor. You have the "pancake" style engine, so you won't have that problem.

Stray

[sparklingredpepper]

Sweet. No pantyhose for me.

[Sneaks]

Sweet. No pantyhose for me.

Me either, makes me sweat.

Oops...

[fusername]

really, cause I have a few photos of you...